EDITOR'S TABLE. 



841 



priately designated as the Newton of 

 the science of optics. 



The optical theory which reigned 

 in the scientific world until the begin- 

 ning of the present century was known 

 as the theory of emission, which as- 

 sumed that all luminous effects are due 

 to the darting, rebounding, and deflect- 

 ing of some kind of material corpuscles 

 or particles. The idea of vibratory or 

 undulatory action as the cause of light 

 was early broached by Huygens and 

 maintained later by Euler, but was gen- 

 erally regarded as a crude speculation 

 without scientific value. Dr. Young, 

 devoting his great powers to optical 

 research, soon perceived that the evi- 

 dence was decisive in favor of the un- 

 dulatory view ; and, in the case of the 

 interference of light, he proved that 

 it affords a complete interpretation of 

 the effects where the emission theory 

 wholly breaks down. He developed 

 his ideas in elaborate papers published 

 in the "Proceedings of the Royal Soci- 

 ety," and gave them mature expression 

 in the Bakerian Lecture of 1802. It 

 was at once seen by a few discerning 

 scientific men that the old controversy 

 between the theories of light was vir- 

 tually brought to an end. But the old 

 explanation, long accepted, and sanc- 

 tioned by the great authority of New- 

 ton, was, of course, still supreme, while 

 the new explanation had its way to 

 make in scientific circles and in the 

 general mind. 



The " Edinburgh Review " now ap- 

 pears upon the scene. This quarterly 

 had just been established, and was sup- 

 ported by a brilliant corps of writers 

 who attracted wide attention, and gave 

 to the periodical an extensive and pow- 

 erful influence. Henry Brougham, af- 

 terward Lord Chancellor of England, 

 was among its founders, and was one 

 of its most versatile and effective writ- 

 ers, and he had himself dabbled some- 

 what in optical science. He reviewed 

 Young's Bakerian Lecture on " The 

 Theory of Light and Colors,' 1 which 



appeared in the " Philosophical Trans- 

 actions," and the article was published 

 in the first volume of the new Edin- 

 burgh quarterly issued in 1803. It was 

 an insulting and malignant attack upon 

 Dr. Y r oung, whom he ridiculed in the 

 coarsest manner. Mr. Brougham char- 

 acterized the Bakerian Lecture as worth- 

 less, and bitterly denounced the authori- 

 ties of the Royal Society for degrading 

 science by admitting such foolish specu- 

 lations into their published proceedings. 

 The event is so memorable that we shall 

 be excused for making some quotations 

 from the article. It opens with these 

 words: " As this paper contains noth- 

 ing which deserves the name either of 

 experiment or discovery, and as it is in 

 fact destitute of every species of merit, 

 we should have allowed it to pass among 

 the multitude of those articles which 

 must always find admittance into the 

 collections of a society which is pledged 

 to publish two or three volumes every 

 year. . . . 



".We wish to raise our feeble voice 

 against innovations that can have no 

 other effect than to check the progress 

 of Science, and renew all those wild 

 phantoms of the imagination which 

 Bacon and Newton put to flight from 

 her temple. . . . 



" It is difficult to argue with an au- 

 thor whose mind is filled with a me- 

 dium of so fickle a vibratory nature. 

 Were we to take the trouble to refute 

 him, he might tell us, ' My opinion is 

 changed, and I have abandoned that 

 hypothesis, but here is another for 

 you.' . . . 



" We demand if the world of sci- 

 ence, which Newton once illuminated, is 

 to be as changeable in its modes as the 

 world of taste, which is directed by the 

 will of a silly woman or a pampered 

 fop. Has the Royal Society degraded 

 its publications into new and fashion- 

 able theories for the ladies who attend 

 the Royal Institution? Proh pudorf 

 Let the professor continue to amuse his 

 audience with an endless variety of 



